Keeping with the theme of the World Council of Churches as an organization for the reality-challenged (see the post below), the WCC today posted a call for members of its constituent political parties denominations to “e-mail a wish or prayer for peace to Bethlehem” as part of their week of Israel-bashing church advocacy. The call included this announcement of an upcoming piece of street theater:
Some of the emails will be read aloud in Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Sunday, 8 June 2008. That evening, people of Bethlehem will form a “living clock” to commemorate six decades of living as refugees and uprooted people since 1948, and 41 years of occupation.
So, the “people of Bethlehem” will commemorate “six decades of living as refugees and uprooted people.” Given that Jordan ruled Bethlehem from 1948 to 1967, and that Jordan is 70% Palestinian, and that residents of Bethlehem weren’t driven from their homes in 1948 by either Israelis or Arabs, I’ve got to wonder what this means. Of course, it is true that the percentage of Christians who live in Bethlehem has dropped precipitously since the Palestinian Authority took control of the city in 1993, as Muslims have made it nearly impossible for Christians to make a living or even feel safe. Perhaps those are the “refugees and uprooted people” of Bethlehem that they will be commemorating.
